Looking Ahead

LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis

Happy friends, another year, gone before the grimsby reaper
cuts the blooms of yesterspring. But we sing and sing and sing.

Doomsday cometh, Almanack, Nostradamus tells us wither,
but we titter, titter, titter, dance on life's immortal track.
We have got the silver bullet, we're untouched because we care.
Doomsday never calls our number 'cause we're busy elsewhere.

So, dear friends, let's celebrate, drive the grimsby out of state,
keep the spark of life a-blooming, 'cause we care, we care, we care.
Raise a little glass of sake for Mario Cuomo, George Pataki.
And that famous hedge-fund warhorse Europe's savior, George Soros.

Smite the zither, clang the drum with the Clinton pair, old chum;
save a thought for Hard-Times Rudy, trimming budgets, doin' his duty.

Ring the bells, chime the clock with Phyl, Herb and Rabbi Block.
If these days your hope doth falter, try consulting Rabbi Alder,
Dr. Pike, Father Byrne, Pastor Ames, Philip Rothman,
Sylvia Friedman, Steven Coe, Evie Strouse, Barbara Harry,
Sam Isaly, Norman Siegel, Susan Parker, Celia Sagnes.

Think of Nelson Mandela; the Russian general who won't shoot.

Hospital's the place to rest, take a load off, get a test.
Make some calls to friends who're sick: Gertrude Barber, Eugene Dorfman,
Rex Wassermann, Minna Michaels. Irwin Dienstag, one of the best.
And the doctors. They work hard. Friedbergs, Falkensteins, Levitzkys
(Frank Lopez may attest).

When your gall exceeds your ken, grab that old Ameche invention,
spin the dial, spend the dimes, give the word to Barry Farber,
Lynn Samuels, Bob Grant, or Imus.

If your'e musically inclined, play a gentle obbligato
for Sens Moynihan, D'Amato, Goodman, Abate, Ohrenstein.

And for the Parksiders gang, Aldon James, Connie Gibson,
James Dougherty, Jack Taylor, Arlene Harrison, Peter Ryan,
Arthur Abbey, May Miculis. Clink a little glass of vino
with Clint Blume and Dom Crispino, Gary Papush, Nicholas Fish,
Lou Sepersky, Gerald Schriffen, Barry Benepe, Jeanne Tregre.

You can watch your children grow, in the care of Jean LeShaw,
Richard Eldridge, Jean Ramirez, William Freedman, Robert Durkin,
that's the rollcall, quite a firkin.

Now for law and order, bird: Honor Robert Ward, Fed Court,
Judge Jay Dankberg (and Louise), then yer life will be a breeze.
But if yer fixed on drugs or booze, Captain Duffy, Owen Hughes
will provide the right enviro to keep you a crime tyro.

If reading be your only crime, gentle books about the past -
Carol Klein's remarks will last. When you're coping with life's flipside
read the Times, Robert Lipsyte. Roberts (Ray) makes fine books too.

As for words that will infuriate you, try some Charles Murray,
Richard Armey, Newton Gingrich. But no jam for the strange breed
that calls a book a good read. And no bread from Lynda B lankenhorn.

'Tonio Pagan will move you, make you active, do things;
Tom and Nan DeRosa help you, Carol Maloney will hold hands;
Jane Crotty, Steve Sanders, Andy Eristoff, Charles Millard;
Edith Charlton, Agnes Atwood, Jack Bringmann and Al Doyle,
Jo-Ann Polise, Pete Doukas; a better city is their watchword.

If your business needs a doctor, just one name - Carol Schachter.
If antiquity's your thing, give a call to Donald King.
Editors of great renown, spelling is their star in crown,
grammar of profuse perplexion, words from many, many diction-
aries: Todd Maisel, Frank Gribbon.

Company to drink a beer in, Rob Walsh, Tom Knierim,
E. K. Kane, esteemed friend, Herman Diamond, no end
of the folks who make a life.

So I wish you all a treat, sip of Scotch, singlemalt, no blend.
Save a thought for those who bleed, make a wish for those who need,
say a prayer for the world, we're the ones who lucked out.

Turn the ugly thought unsaid, may the priestly words descend,
benediction for the world, no end.

Wally Dobelis thanks Roger Angell (18 years of Greetings) and the late Frank Sullivan (40 years of Greetings), of the New Yorker.